The Messiah and the Monster
by Kazi-Kun
Summary: She was the only girl he could hold. He was the only boy she couldn’t scare. She saw something in him no one else understood. He saw something in her that no one else could. Together they found love in the most unlikeliest of people....each other.
1. Chapter 1

Fruits Basket/Sailor Moon

"The Messiah and the Monster"

She was the only girl he could hold.

He was the only boy she couldn't scare.

She saw something in him no one else understood.

He saw something in her that no one else could.

Together they found love in the most unlikeliest of people.

It was raining…I remember that much about the day…someone had been watching me while I played alone…when I looked up, they were hiding behind a tree…we just looked at each other for a while…and then I stood, ready to run away…but my body had a mind of its own…it walked me over to them and shakily extended a hand to them in way of a greeting or something…they shied away but I just stood there, my hand out to them…I spoke to them, trying to coax them out…when they came out, they extended their hand to mine…their hand was massive compared to my tiny palm…I curled my fingers around one of theirs and pulled them out into the open…I didn't scream or cry out in fear…I just smiled, telling them I wasn't afraid of them…to show my friendship, I gave them a bracelet I found…they suddenly hugged me and I felt weird inside…they let go of me as I changed in front of them…they didn't run…they took my hand and pulled something out of their pocket…they put it in my hand and I hugged them in gratitude…something happened and when I released them, we saw each other as we really were…the rain fell heavier, soaking us both but it didn't matter…something inside me kept me warm…


	2. Chapter 2

How wonderful for her. She got another 'A+' on her exam. Just what her already spotless record needed-_another_ good grade. She sighed to herself and tucked the 250-question test into her folder and put the folder back into her school bag. She picked up her bag and headed out of the classroom. She went into the bathroom and changed out of her school uniform.

The red, white and blue summer uniform was quickly folded and tucked into her school bag as she pulled out her change of clothes. She pulled on a boat neck, long sleeve shirt and a denim mini skirt before slipping a hoody sweatshirt over her head. She pulled on a jean jacket and swept her hair into a ponytail. She grabbed the high-heeled ankle boots she was going to wear instead of her school shoes outside.

Shouldering her bag and carrying her shoes in one hand, she hurried out of the school building and down to the lockers. She switched her white shoes for her school shoes, which she tucked in her bag. Quickly pulling on the boots on and lacing them up, she left the school yard at a hustle to avoid the shrieking moans of her best friend and hearing how that same said friend had failed an exam-again.

Once far enough away, she slowed to a fast walk, trying to slow her ragged breathing. She turned the corner and slammed into someone who had had the same idea. Both of them were thrown to the ground rather harshly.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized holding her head in a hand as she pushed herself up with the other. "I'm kind in a hurry."

"It's my bad." Who she crashed into told her. "Just trying to avoid somebody."

_Wait…I know that voice!_ She looked up and saw a young man with orange hair and a bracelet of black and white beads dressed in a Kaibara boy's summer uniform. "Kyo Sohma?" He looked up, showing her the cat pupil red eyes she remembered so well." Kyo, it is you!"

"Hotaru Tomoe?" He asked. She nodded with a smile. A grin took its place on his face as he scrambled to his feet. "Hotaru, long time-no see! I can't believe we ran into each other like this."

"This isn't exactly how I pictured meeting up with you again." Hotaru admitted getting off the ground with Kyo's help. "How have you been? It's been, what-6, 7 years since we last met?"

Kyo rubbed the back of his neck with a smile. "Something like that, yeah. Where have you been?"

"Around…" Hotaru answered vaguely. "You know, just stuff to do about…well, you know."

"Yeah, I do…" Kyo looked at her for a moment then gave her a light punch in the arm. "Hey, have you gotten any better? You think you can beat me this time?"

Hotaru laughed and flicked him in the forehead. "It's not like you won last time. We _tied_ remember?"

Kyo put his forehead against hers with a big smile. "Yeah, I remember. I've still got bruises from that fight. Do you still have that cut?"

No, it healed." Hotaru pushed back her sleeves and showed him her right forearm where a faint 2-inch scar ran the limb's length. "Well, sort of." She pulled her sleeves down again. "SO, where have _you_ been? In the mountains with Shishou?"

"I wish." Kyo admitted. "Nah, I have been living with my cousins Shigure and that damn Yuki. How about you?"

Hotaru shrugged as they started to head somewhere. "I'd been living with my 3 friends Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna until a few months ago."

"Where do you live now?" Kyo asked, surprised as they waited at a crosswalk.

"No where, really." She answered with a soft smile. "I've been crashing at Rei's for the last week. The few weeks before that I was at Ami's place then Makoto's."

Kyo took her hand. "Come on-I know someone who could help you with that!"

"Where are you taking me, Kyo?" Hotaru asked, running to keep up with his much longer strides. Kyo gave her a big smile.

"I'm taking you where we spent the most time together-I'm taking you to see Shishou!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Shishou-you wouldn't believe who I bumped into today!"

Kazuma blinked at Kyo in surprise as he hung on to someone who was around the corner. This someone tried to get away but Kyo had a good grip on whoever it was.

"Uh, okay, Kyo. I'll bite." Kazuma told his "son" with a weak smile. "Who did you bump into today?" Kyo pulled a black haired girl with stunning purple eyes into view. Kazuma was shocked and surprised at first then a smile split his face. "Wow, Kyo. I had no idea you had caught yourself a girlfriend."

The girl and Kyo blushed and pointed at each other. Then it clicked.

"SHISHOU!" They yelled at him in unison. "WE'RE NOT DATING!"

Kazuma was absolutely surprised at that reaction. He noticed the silver chain around the girl's neck as she glared at him.

"Oh, Hotaru-chan! It's been too long." Kazuma smiled as the pair calmed down. "You've really grown up into a beautiful young lady. I didn't recognize you at first."

Hotaru blushed and looked down. She bowed in respect. "Thank you, Shishou."

0-0

"So, to what do I owe this happy reunion?" The martial arts teacher asked as they sat in the tearoom just the three of them. Hotaru and Kyo looked at each other then Hotaru looked down at her lap. "Alright, I know that look. What did you do now, young lady?"

"I didn't do anything." Hotaru mumbled clenching her hands in her lap. "It's just that…"

Kyo knew this was hard for her. "She's been living with her friends recently because…"

"Oh, I see." Kazuma had a feeling that's what happened. "So, which one of your fellows lost their-?"

"That's not it!" Hotaru slammed her hands on the table, getting on her knees. She realized she had lost her temper and settled back down next to Kyo. "Forgive my outburst, Shishou."

Kazuma knew that subject was sore for Hotaru. "So, tell me what happened."

"Well, there was this one lady and a slight problem with her…after that, Setsuna had to go back…to her old job…so that left me with Haruka an' Michiru." Hotaru explained in a soft voice. "And then they got this call from Europe…an' so I was left here…I lived with Minako for a couple months until she left for a shoot in Los Angeles. Makoto took me in until she went to France and I stayed at Ami's except she had to go to Germany."

"Who were you living with after that?" Kazuma asked, sipping his tea.

"The 3 Lights until they went on tour…Mamoru and Usagi are busy with Usa and Chibi Chibi and the rest of Usagi's family so I was just in the way there…" Hotaru answered softly. "…since about last week, I've been at the Hikawa Shrine with Rei and Yuichiro…"

"It sounds like this has been going on for a year, if not more." Their Shishou commented gazing at Hotaru who hadn't looked up. "How long have they been gone, Hotaru-chan?"

"…2 and a half…" Her reply was so soft that Kyo had trouble hearing her. He looked at her in shock, surprise, anger and worry. "…but I've been okay with it…I mean, its no different than when my father first brought me here…when Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna still thought I was…going to be what I used to be…I'm supposed to be alone…that's the circumstances for my birth, right? It's not like it's any different-"

**SPLASH!**

"I will not have you talking like that under this roof." Kazuma said with ice cold seriousness, his teacup still poised from his movement. Hotaru and Kyo both were now soaked in his tea. She looked up at him. "Go upstairs and get a bath-both of you. You're staying here tonight. I'll send someone to prepare your old room. Go, you'll have changes of clothes when you get out."

"Why'd I get soaked too?" Kyo half demanded.

Kazuma set his teacup down on the table. "Because you were going to say what she couldn't. It's just like when you were children. Now, do as I say. I am still your Shishou."

Yes, Shishou." The pair bowed politely before standing. Kazuma waited for them to leave the tearoom before letting out a sigh.

I have a feeling that Hotaru's hiding something from Kyo and Kyo's hiding something from Hotaru. Have the years really made these two kindred spirits grow apart so much?


	4. Chapter 4

Kyo and Hotaru kept their backs to each other as they took off their clothes. It hadn't been like that when they were children. They'd strip down to their underwear in front of each other comparing bruises and war injuries with smiles and happy chatter before Kazuma would tell them to hop in the tub where he was already lounging. But, like everyone's lives before them, they had grown apart.

The Cat snuck a glance and looked at her back. A gash spanned over the ends of her shoulder blades with a burn around the edges. It looked like she had been struck with a leather whip set on fire. Kyo wanted to hug her, to hold her and tell her he was sorry that she had to suffer that much pain. She saw more scars-fainter than the scar on her forearm-as if she had been at the business end of a fencing rapier.

"I've had them for a while." She told him as if she had seen him watch her. "None of them hurt anymore."

"Not even that whip mark that made you wince when your sweatshirt brushed it?" Kyo glanced back as she stiffened at his question. "How long have you had it? Who gave it to you?"

Hotaru tossed her shirts and jacket aside, into the dirty clothes' hamper. "It's almost been a year now…since I got it…it's the only one that still hurts…" She jumped when Kyo's hands touched her bare shoulders. "..don't, Kyo…you'll get in trouble with Shishou…"

"It didn't matter when we were kids." He reminded her. "Why are you so jumpy about that now? Did the guy who gave you this…" Kyo's left thumb brushed her skin, 3 finger widths from the top of the diagonal scar. "…was he that dear to you?"

He tightened his grip on her slender shoulders when she tried to move. She didn't look up nor did she try to flip him.

Kyo put his forehead against the back of her head. "What was his name? What happened to him?"

"I killed him, that's what happened to him." She answered softly. "He was going to burn everything when he was done with me…I couldn't let him do that…not when I felt you were still alive…I spilled his blood so he wouldn't spill yours…"

"You put blood on your hands for me?" That surprised the Cat. He wanted to hold her and tell her she didn't have to fight anymore but it wouldn't do any good. It was like telling Kyo to eat nothing but leeks for the rest of his life. She was made for the battlefield like the warriors who came before her. "Come on, Shishou will douse us in a bucket of tea if we don't get in the tub before he gets up here."

She pulled out her hair tie as he finished undressing. Her black hair fell in loose curls to her waist as Kyo got into the tub. He kept his back to her, letting her undress in private. Kyo didn't even glance back until he felt her slip in to the water.

"Hey, Hotaru?"

"Yeah, Kyo?"

"Why do you wear that black star charm if you have it under control?"

"That's like asking why did your mother religiously check that your beads were still on."

"Like the day we met? You remember that right?" Kyo asked with a smile.

She laughed a little. "The time we both showed courage where the sane would flee? Yeah, I remember that. You were the first friend I ever had."

Kyo glanced back at her. "Your first? Really?"

"Yeah…before I met you I was the local outcast…no one would even speak my name for fear they'd be cursed." Hotaru gave a dry laugh. "No one but the teachers, mind you. And even they were jumpy. That's why I only left home while it was raining…it was the only time I could safely play…it was at that little park where we met…my father bought it and the surrounding land so I could be safe from all of the other kids."

Hotaru felt shock overtake her as Kyo leaned back, his head resting on one of her shoulders. He was carefully avoiding her painful scar.

"I remember that. You found my beads before you found me." The Cat smiled, closing his eyes. "And I had found your necklace before you heard my heart."

The Silent Warrior closed her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest. "Kyo? Do you remember my first night here?"

"Hard to forget someone who would sit on the veranda and wait for her father to come get her after a self defense lesson." Kyo told her, proving he remembered. "I was in karate at the time, being taught by Shishou and I saw you wait for the entire time I was doing katas with Haru. You waited the entire four and a half hours before Shishou told you he couldn't come back for you. You cried into his pants since we were both only as tall as his thighs. He picked you up and let you cry as he sat in your place. He wanted me to wait until you calmed down before I came out to see you."

"I remember that…you grabbed me by the back of my gi and told me to stop crying before I got you started." She felt Kyo laugh at the memory. "I ran to Shishou, calling 'hide the catnip before Kyo-kun gets it!' You remember that?"

"Yeah, I remember." Kyo reached back and gently pulled at her bangs. "Now quit dragging me down Memory Lane before Shishou has to break out the osake to knock us out again."

Hotaru started laughing at that. "We had such a hang over! You couldn't keep anything down!"

"Hey! You're the one who couldn't walk straight! AND you kept complaining of loud noises and bright lights." Kyo sat up and looked at her as she turned half way around.

"But I'm not the one who got a headache and was dizzy." Hotaru faced him, grabbing his beads as he grabbed her necklace. Their eyes glared at each other until they put their foreheads together and started laughing like the old friends they truly were.

Unknown to them, Kazuma stood outside the bathroom with a soft smile on his face. He knew all they needed was to reconnect again to truly remember they weren't ever alone.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Hotaru-are you asleep yet?"

"No, not yet…"

You can't sleep, can you?"

"No, not any more…"

Their old room, left untouched since Hotaru had left years ago, was dark as the pair of old friends laid on their futons. Kyo was on his back and Hotaru was on her side, her back to him. The Cat sat up and looked at the Silent Warrior who had her eyes partially closed.

"How bad do they get?" He asked softly, worried for his friend.

"So bad that I haven't slept for a week and a half." Hotaru admitted in a low voice. She pushed herself off the ground. "I'll be right back. I've got to get something to drink."

Hotaru left the room as Kyo looked at the water bottle next to her futon. Kazuma knew Hotaru's tricks from when the Silent Senshi was younger. She had made up a lot of excuses on why she couldn't go to sleep. The real reason-horrible nightmares that would scare her awake for days. The 'I need a drink' excuse was the first one she pulled with Kazuma. The Cat was a little surprised he had remembered that.

Kyo got up and followed her. "Hotaru-wait." She stopped halfway down the stairs with him at the top. "What happened after you left? What went on after Haruka took you from here when we were kids? Tell me, Hotaru. We're still two of a kind-two of the _same kind_. I'm still your best friend. I haven't forgotten you. Even after all this time, I still keep thinking that you were going to come around the next corner and I have to keep telling myself that you're gone. Now you're back. Tell me what's happened to you."

"It's my problem." The black haired senshi mumbled. "I'm not going to pull you into my mess."

"You've changed, Hotaru." The Cat's voice had a tone of being hurt. "What the hell happened to you while we were separated? What the hell did those guys make you see? What did they make you do? No, it's not that. No matter what you saw or what you did, it never could do this to you-not to someone as strong as you. It had to be something _they_ did _you_. What did they do to you, Hotaru?"

She ran down the rest of the stairs with Kyo on her heels. She made it to the open veranda by the training hall and was going to run off into the night but Kyo caught her. He snatched her wrist and pulled her back to him, half slamming her against nearby post by her shoulders.

"What did they do to you?" He asked softly truly worried.

Hotaru looked away. "Would you believe I still don't have a place in the world?"

_Oh, God…they didn't do what I think they did-did they?_ Kyo thought hearing the bitter tone she had used. "Go on, tell me."

"When Haruka took me away from you and Shishou, she and the other two took me back to my father. He had been so worried about me those two years I lived with you guys. I was finally back with him, Kyo. And they told me that if I wanted him to live, I couldn't see him anymore." Hotaru's eyes began to tear up. "They told me they'd kill him in front of me if I didn't obey the rules. The rules were nightmares. I wasn't allowed to acknowledge his existence ever again. I had to change my last name. I couldn't have friends outside the Senshi. I wasn't allowed to keep anything that connected me to the past. I had to devote all my power, life and soul to the preservation of the royal family.

"I agreed to spare his life. And I saw him as I went around town but I couldn't to him. He couldn't give me his love or anything." Hotaru continued with a sniff. "He was slowly dying and I couldn't stop it. I couldn't save him. I watched him waste away, Kyo. They made me stand by and watch him die. They had their families and constantly rubbed it in my face. And then when he was in the hospital, I wasn't allowed to see him even then. I wasn't even allowed to go to his funeral. I'm his only child, Kyo, and without me he died. After Mom, all he had was me and they took that away.

"And would you believe they _still_ won't let me lay flowers on his grave? It's been _years_ since he died and I can't pay the man who loved me the proper respects." She closed her eyes, a tear falling free. "I'm still being treated like I have the plague. They still act like I'm just a tool. I hate it, Kyo. I hate it all."

The Cat pulled her into his arms and held her against him as she cried into his shoulder. He was right. He had been afraid of that-they broke her heart and her spirit then they kept stomping on the pieces to keep her under their boot. Her tears soaked his shoulder as she clung to him in her despair.

Kyo tightened his arms around her to keep her close. "I won't let them get you anymore. If they try to take you away from here again, I'll stain my hands for you. I'll protect you the best I can. I promise, Hotaru."


	6. Chapter 6

Kazuma could swear he was thrown back into the past when he walked into the kitchen in the morning. Hotaru was at the stove in the white shorts and dark blue t-shirt she had been given to sleep in and Kyo was busy in the fridge in the black shorts and gray t-shirt he slept in to help her. The two years he had both replayed, time going back and the duo shrinking.

Back then, Hotaru had be on a stool in order to cook at the stove and do the dishes…not that Kyo didn't need it back then either. Kazuma could never be allowed in the kitchen while those two were running around. They forbade him from ever going inside the kitchen since he was a terrible cook.

"You better not put leeks in that." The Cat told the Senshi while he looked for something in the fridge. "I hate leeks."

"You also hate miso unless it's in soup. I haven't forgotten." Hotaru shot back at Kyo. "You want to know what really sucked? I couldn't cook-no, I wasn't _allowed_ to cook since they feared I'd poison them."

Kyo took the milk out and set it by the stove for her to use. "No way. You wouldn't poison a flea. You still can't. You _like_ crushing them between your fingers."

"Oh, and you don't?" She teased with a smile. Kyo lightly pinched her sides making her "eep!" She pushed him with her foot as he turned his back on her. "I know you remember that I don't like that! I kept beating you about the head for each time! Do I have to start doing that again?"

"Now, now, you two. Play nice." Kazuma told them playfully as he sat down at the table. "I don't want to separate you two now that you're back together again."

"At least he did come in here and try to cook." Hotaru muttered to Kyo as the Cat stood by the Senshi.

"Tell me about it." Kyo agreed. "We'd have to release both our Sides in order to beat him."

The Last Saturian hit him upside the head. "Speak for yourself, Kyo! I can handle Shishou on my own! I've defeated Pharaoh 90, Nehelina _and_ Chaos's human form! I'm perfectly capable of handling the man who wrangled us for two years on his little lonesome! So there, Pussycat."

The Cat hit her butt, making her squeak. " 'So there', Firefly. I win."

Hotaru left the stove and grabbed the Cat's ear. "We have to have a little chat, Pussycat. Come with me, would you?"

"You're in trouble, Kyo." Kazuma laughed at Hotaru's growl as she dragged her friend out of sight. There was a thwack, a thud and a loud "oomph"! Hotaru came back, obviously furious at Kyo. Kyo staggered to the table, holding his shoulder and rubbing where she had pelted him. "Oooh, how hard did she hit you?"

"She's a lot stronger than she used to be." Kyo admitted with a groan. "Ow, damn. She doesn't hold back."

Kazuma chuckled as Hotaru set their breakfast in front of them. As she went back into the kitchen, she took the chance and hit Kyo over the head. The cursed boy growled at her as she passed him. Hotaru shot him a look and silenced him instantly.

"It's good to see she still has that effect on you, Kyo." Their teacher laughed getting a sulking scowl. "Aw, Did wittle 'Taru upset the mean wittle kitty cat?"

"Shishou-that's not funny!" Kyo snapped, blushing. He always blushed when Kazuma treated like a child. It was usually when Hotaru was out of the room, or completely spaced out and/or totally focused on something. And when she saw him blushing, Hotaru would playfully bug him until Kyo gave in or ran out of the room blushing even more.

"Oh, Kyo, why are you blushing?" Hotaru asked coming to sit with the two males as she brought tea to the table. "Huh? Why ya blushin'?" Hotaru tickled his cheek as she leaned over to reach him. Kyo leaned back and Hotaru kept leaning forward. "Come on, Mr. Pussy Cat-tell Miss Glow Bug why you're blushing."

Kyo fell back and grabbed Hotaru to stay up. Unfortunately, it didn't work-Hotaru landed on top of Kyo. His hands were her hips and it was pretty awkward but not as awkward as what happened-Kyo and Hotaru were kissing. Kazuma hadn't noticed (he was used to them picking on each other) and continued to eat his breakfast.

Both teens' eyes were wide with shock and surprise. They didn't make any thought of separating-not that the shock was helping by freezing their muscles. Kyo could smell Hotaru's lotion, a sweet lilac and rose combination. Hotaru could feel Kyo's body heat, reassuring and strong. A blush rose on their cheeks and the shock wore off. Quicker than lightning, the pair separated and didn't look at each other.

Kazuma looked up, swallowing his mouthful. "What happened to you two?" He looked from Hotaru smeared rose gloss on her lips and then glanced at Kyo. The boy had her gloss smudged on his lips as well. Their shishou smirked. "You look good in rose gloss, Kyo."

The Cat reacted the way Kazuma had predicted-Kyo wiped the back of his hand over his lips to free them of the gloss. Hotaru did the same thing but with the sleeve of her shirt. Kazuma grinned knowing what would be the result of their kiss-whether it was by accident or not.


	7. Chapter 7

"I see you're as flexible as ever, Hotaru."

"Hi, Shishou. What can I do for you?" The Silent Warrior asked as she was in the middle of a back bend. Kazuma walked over to her and sat down beside her. He walked his fingers over her curved middle. "Hey, Shishou! I'm ticklish! Stop it! Stop!"

Hotaru fell on her back laughing as Kazuma tickled her mercilessly. She pushed him off of her and sat up, wiping the tears her fit of laughter had brought on.

"God, Shishou." She laughed softly. "You're still just a big kid."

"And you're still too young to be acting like you're older than me." Hotaru looked away, her happiness and laughter gone. "You remember what happened back then?"

She didn't answer right away. "…not…all of it…I know I killed him…I think I killed him…but I can't remember…all I remember is a splash of crimson…and the feeling of warm blood on my skin…can't tell whether or not if it's his…or if it's mine…"

Kazuma hugged her like a father would and felt his yukata dampen as she clutched the gray cloth. He stroked her hair, trying to reassure her. He couldn't let her go this time. She and Kyo needed each other in order to heal. And that healing had to happen under his roof, where the pair were the happiest in their lives, where HE raised THEM-their real home.

* * *

Yeah, I know-it's short but it was either this or nothing at all. Got it? Good. 


End file.
